Kung Pao chicken
I’ve been itching to get into Asian cooking for some time, and for Christmas, I got not one but two cookbooks for this. From Shaun I received Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. I started flipping through this book and came upon a recipe for Kung Pao chicken, which honestly I was quite amazed by because I figured it was an American concoction. It’s the first thing I made.
You can read the recipe over here on NPR.
I had no trouble getting the Sichuan peppercorn, but I wasn’t able to get a hold of any Sichuan chiles at the time. Instead, I added some chile paste to the sauce for spice and a red bell pepper to the chicken for extra color and vegetable goodness. Even though I totally faked it up, I also totally loved it.
I’d recommend this book and recipe for someone, like myself, new to cooking authentic Asian food.